Middle East Bonds

First Gulf Bank has hired Michael Aissaoui as head of corporate finance advisory. Aissaoui was hired from National Bank of Abu Dhabi where he held the very same role since 2012.

Egyptian financial authorities will meet with market participants on Wednesday to discuss a revised version of the country’s sukuk law, an official at the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) told IFIS.

Giles Borten, co-head of EMEA corporate debt capital markets and sole head of EMEA leveraged finance at UBS, has left the bank, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital.

Dubai's DIFC Investments is planning to issue its second ever sukuk. The trade could be a benchmark dollar deal of around $400-$500m according to a banker with knowledge of it.

Dubai's DIFC Investments is planning to issue its second ever sukuk. The trade could be a benchmark dollar deal of around $400-$500m according to a banker with knowledge of it.

Gulf Finance House is planning to end a seven year sukuk absence with a $200m transaction which should pique the interest of high yield accounts and hedge funds, said one investor in London.

Rising sukuk redemptions should be drawing issuers to market to take advantage of high liquidity still low spreads before they disappear, said debt bankers. Sukuk redemptions will hit record highs this year and again in 2016, according to Dealogic data. Debt bankers are optimistic they can convince borrowers to take advantage of a closing low yield window, and would much prefer to see corporates take the lead.

The Central Bank of Bahrain has sold BD20m ($53m) of short-term sukuk al ijara with a higher subscription than last month’s issue.

Gulf Finance House is planning to end a seven year sukuk absence with a $200m transaction which should pique the interest of high yield accounts and hedge funds, said one investor in London.

Using ijara sukuk and a highly reputed Shariah scholar can push up a sukuk issuers’ share price, according to a paper published by the International Monetary Fund paper published on Monday. Despite the high price commanded by top scholars, the study indicates that the premium issuers pay for their reputation is worthwhile. And despite the popularity of musharaka and mudaraba structures, equity investors are far happier to see a company issue ijara.

Natural gas company Dana Gas is hoping improvements in money collection and receivables will convince more holders of its convertible sukuk to exchange their bonds for equity. The company’s share price has fallen and yields on its sukuk risen in recent weeks as fighting between Islamic militants and Kurdish forces has intensified. But a better outlook from its Egyptian operations and a ruling from a London court ordering the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq to resume payments should help reassure investors, the company said.

Jordan has introduced specific regulations for sukuk issuance two years after the country’s parliament first passed its sukuk law, and hopes the new rules will draw public and private sector borrowers to market